Drink Of The Week: Bacardi Eisenhower

A Drink Inspired By The Geniuses At Sterling Cooper

A little history with your buzz...

On a recent episode of Mad Men, the Sterling Cooper creative team had to work all weekend to brainstorm five new ad concepts for Bacardi. After drinking rum and Cokes and wondering what they could mix it with in the blender, they decide “to smoke some marijuana” to help them think. After hours of snacking, lazy bickering, singing, T.S. Eliot quotes, and the ingenious slogan “Rum … have some,” Smitty says, “Bacardi Eisenhower.”

Peggy and Paul laughed at his suggestion, but we think he was on to something. After all, President Eisenhower ended the Korean War, launched the space race and began the Interstate Highway System. He needs to be honored with a drink that mellows you out, spaces you out and makes you not want to drive… because the highways are crap. So we have taken it upon ourselves to invent that drink.

Since Eisenhower rose to power as a bitter old soldier, we’ve chosen lime and grapefruit juice mixers. Those juices and rum are also the base of a Hemingway Daiquiri. The similarities in the drinks match the similarities in the men: both loved being macho and both loved their guns.

To give it a unique twist, we’ve added a splash of aloe vera juice. Now, this is not a mixer that any normal bar will have — it’s usually found in health food stores. However, not only does it give the grapefruit juice an interesting tang, it also aids in digestion. Eisenhower had Crohn’s disease and would have greatly benefited from this juice that sufferers now drink. Plus, aloe vera juice will help with the hangover. Finally, why the brown sugar instead of white? The 34th president became the first to declare racial discrimination a national security issue. He was a friend to all colors.

Hair-on-your-chest factor: 90/100

Even with the brown sugar, there is nothing sweet about this cocktail. There is a huge pucker factor and after a couple, you’ll be pouring the rum with a heavy hand. Sure, there are a lot of ingredients for a “manly drink,” but the symbolism behind it is rich with machismo. Eisenhower is possibly the manliest president of the last century.